The Connecticut River has come a long way since the first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970.
Over 55 years ago, it was legal, and actually common, for toxic waste to be dumped in the river.
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WATCH HERE"The river for a very long time prior to the 1960s was incredibly polluted," Lauren Bennett-Dionne, director of education at the Connecticut River Museum in Essex, said.
You can now find many birds - especially bald eagles - around the river today.
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SIGN UP Poor environmental practices in the 1960s kept wildlife away for a while.
"The [eagle] population was devastated, and they were endangered," Bennett-Dionne said. "You cannot have a robust bird species or a robust population of birds if you do not have a healthy environment."
We got to observe an Eagle RiverQuest cruise through the Connecticut River Museum back in February.
A group of kids and their parents cruised up and down the southern Connecticut River for about two hours, collecting the number of wildlife spotted along their path.
The more animals spotted along the river can usually be correlated to the current health of the Connecticut River.
It's part of the museum's initiative to teach kids about the environment and the importance of keeping it healthy.
"Seeing a whole different ecosystem is usually very engaging for them," Cathy Malin, a certified naturalist at the museum, said.
"They are the next generation of river stewards, and they are going to be inheriting and being the stewards for the Connecticut River for years to come," Bennett-Dionne said.
"I learned that eagles are going to go extinct if people don't take care of them," Penelope from Middletown said.
